All the News, Reviews, Guides and Reports on Electric Cars

Audi unveiled the all-electric e-tron sports utility vehicle this week, the brand’s first pure EV. It’s been nearly a decade since the company’s exhilarating electric R8 sports car was introduced—and three years since the battery-powered e-tron Quattro concept was first shown. Those vehicles generated a lot of excitement among auto enthusiasts and EV fans alike. But the e-tron that was revealed in San Francisco this week was aimed at wider appeal.

The race for big-battery EVs now includes the Chevy Bolt and Hyundai Kona EV (both with 64 kWh packs), as well as 95 kilowatt-hour batteries carried by the Jaguar I-Pace and Porsche Taycan. These big-battery EVs solve the range problem by providing as much as 300 miles of driving on a single charge. However, it is now dawning on automakers and analysts that bigger is not always better when it comes to EV batteries.

In a blog post yesterday, Ford’s product development director for electric cars said, “We are being tasked to set the future trajectory of the company.” That’s a big assignment for Darren Palmer and his co-workers at Ford Team Edison, the company’s dedicated EV group located in new digs in an old factory in the heart of Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood.

Electrify America, the Volkswagen subsidiary that formed in the wake of Dieselgate, plans to install more than 2,000 chargers across the US by the end of 2019. In a sign that the project will bring EV charging to the masses, one-thousand of the charging stations will be installed at Walmart locations. The first of those Walmart-based stations was put in place this week in Tennessee—with plans for future stations in 36 states across the country.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week announced that the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric is rated to provide 258 miles on a single charge. That’s a huge deal. It’s important not because the Kona crossover displaces the Chevy Bolt as the leader in range among affordable electric cars. There are only 20 miles that separate the range of the Kona Electric and the Bolt—a difference that’s inconsequential for daily driving. The Kona EV’s 258-mile official range is a big deal because it’s the new benchmark for all carmakers to meet when introducing an electric car.

Fiat Chrysler announced last week that a key component of its upcoming Jeep Wrangler Plug-in Hybrid will be produced at the company’s Ohio-based Toledo Assembly Complex. It’s a reassuring sign that even a company that’s been reluctant about EVs is moving on pace to produce additional plug-in vehicles. The plug-in Jeep Wrangler, the brand’s first battery-powered vehicle, is expected to go on sale in 2020.

For most of this year, reviews of the Tesla Model 3 have been mixed. The small Tesla EV earned praise for handling and acceleration. However, the overall build quality and the reliability of high-tech dashboard controls received lower marks. Fortunately, there’s a new reason to get excited again about Tesla’s capabilities to produce compelling automobiles: the first reviews of the Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor Performance version.

It was clear from the beginning—presumably even to Nissan—that the improvements would not be enough to close the deal for most U.S. consumers. Not when EV buyers have better options like the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla’s long-range EVs.

Tesla confirmed today that it delivered 200,000 electric cars to buyers in the United States, the first automaker to reach that level of sales. The milestone is a mixed blessing because it means that the $7,500 federal EV tax credit available to Tesla customers will be reduced by 50 percent in six months—and continue to diminish to zero by about January 2020.